See Our Future
by fyd818
Summary: I had thought I’d known Shawn Spencer, but I was beginning to realize there was so much more to him than I’d thought. Response to the “See Our Future” challenge on Psychfic. Shules


Disclaimer: I don't own _Psych_, nor any characters, places, things, or ideas therein. I am writing this fic for entertainment purposes only, not monetary gain.

Summary: I had thought I'd known Shawn Spencer, but I was beginning to realize there was so much more to him than I'd thought. Response to the "See Our Future" challenge on Psychfic. Shules

Rating: K

Warnings: Fluff!

Spoilers: Blink-and-you'll-miss-it one for _Rob-a-Bye-Baby_

Pairing: Shawn/Juliet

**Author's Note**: This fic is a response to the _See Our Future_ challenge by _apple jacks jules_ over on Psychfic. It's also posted there under the penname _decatbastet_. I also kind of see this as a prequel to _jewel of athos_'s and my new co-fic, which is coming soon both here and on Psychfic. Thank you so much for checking this fic out, and I hope you enjoy it! ~fyd

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**See Our Future**

_fyd818_

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On some days I found myself questioning my own sanity. The job of police detective was not easy on the best days, and on the worst days it was less than glamorous. I did not care what television and films had to say on the matter.

Even on my worst days, though, there was always something -- or perhaps I should say _someone_ -- to cheer me up. Shawn Spencer had become a constant in my life, always there with a smile, a joke, a pineapple, to cheer me up. Even on days that I knew had been bad for him, he always tried to cheer me up before he would even think about letting me cheer him up.

Today had been a fairly quiet day, all things considered. _All things considered_ being a high-speed chase across half of Santa Barbara, but compared to normal (a term used quite loosely and rather sadly in my case), it was a blessing. The chase had ended peacefully and without injury to bystander, police, and suspect alike, so I could definitely list it on my pitifully short _good day_ _today_ mental page.

I had just enough time to change into capris and a t-shirt before Shawn picked me up. I had been expecting a little more time, to be frank. Shawn was usually late to our dates. Whereas that fact would irk other women to no end, and probably lead them to suspect their partner's love or even their fidelity, I found it yet another quirky but endearing aspect of my best-friend-turned-boyfriend.

The balmy air held the promise of a coming thunderstorm as Shawn and I arrived at the beach aboard his motorcycle. I had come to love the thing despite myself, since it was something else that completely defined the Shawn I loved and was, after I got over my knee-jerk reaction of being terrified of a crash, rather fun to ride. As long as Shawn was driving, that was. I had tried to steer the thing once and hadn't even made it down my own street.

Our feet touched the boardwalk just as the sun sank to the halfway point at the horizon. I reached out for Shawn's hand just as he reached for mine, and I smiled at our abilities to silently communicate, to know what the other was going to do right before they did it.

"What are you in the mood for tonight?" Shawn asked me. "Hot dogs? Tacos? Smoothies?" One eyebrow rose, the same corner of his mouth lifting into a half-smile as if his two features were hardwired together.

I laughed. "Let's be different tonight," I said. "Let's go for dessert first and go for the smoothies."

Shawn bounced once on the balls of his feet, then picked up the pace slightly as we headed for Shelley's Smoothies. Apparently he had gone to high school with the owner, and got discounts for their world (and by _world_ I mean the Santa Barbara area) famous pineapple smoothies.

Treats in hand, we resumed our stroll down the boardwalk, mingling with the other couples, the spring-breakers, and the tour groups as we did so. I laughed slightly as I slurped at my drink, remembering how the rasping sound of the straw hitting an air pocket used to drive me crazy before I got to know Shawn. Now I took the sound for granted, and actually enjoyed it a bit.

We were perfectly content to walk in silence as we enjoyed our desserts-come-first. As the sun finished its journey beyond the horizon, leaving streaks of red, gold, and purple in its wake, the lights by shop doors and the twinkle lights everywhere else flickered on. Instead of sunlight, we were now walking by artificial light, but for some reason it still seemed perfectly romantic to me.

After disposing of our empty cups in a trashcan at the end of the boardwalk, we took off our shoes and proceeded to the beach. The sand was still warm from the sun, and the remnants of twilight and the distant glow of the boardwalk was more than sufficient to light our way as we strolled, still immersed in comfortable silence.

"Jules?"

I looked up, surprised at the uncertainty in Shawn's voice as he said my name. "Yes? What's wrong?"

Shawn hesitated, eyeing me askance. His hand was suddenly tighter around mine with nervousness. "Have you ever wondered about -- things?"

"What things?" I asked. A hint of anxiety started gnawing at my insides. Was Shawn going to break up with me? Worse, was something physically wrong with him?

"I dunno. The future." He shrugged his shoulders quickly.

"I thought that was your department," I said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. _And_, if I were perfectly honest with myself, ease my suddenly heavy concerns.

To my relief, Shawn chuckled. "That it is," he murmured. "But some things -- well, some things I can't always see. That's what worries me."

It took great effort to keep my feet moving. We'd had our fair share of serious conversations -- after all, living with the reality that one day one or the other of us might never come home gave us more than enough reason to have such discussions -- but I had a feeling this was turning out to be our most serious yet. "What's wrong?" I repeated. "What did you see? Or -- not see?"

Shawn stopped, turning me so we faced each other. He shot one long look up the beach, then down, and I followed his gaze. There were a few people out and about, having a late-night picnic, or, like Shawn and me, just strolling. But everyone was a good distance away. I hadn't felt prickles of uneasiness beyond what Shawn's words had brought, so surely there wasn't someone watching us…?

"Juliet…" Shawn hesitated, gazing past my shoulder to the constantly-moving waves for a long time. Then, finally, he looked to me again and continued. "I've done a lot of things in my life, some of them I'm not very proud of. I think, besides my dad and Gus, you're the only person who knows and understands me the most -- all the parts of me, not just the show I put on for others. I've been afraid of letting people in for so long." His lips briefly twisted, almost wryly.

When I started to say something, however, he hushed me. "Let me finish what I was going to say, okay? Then I promise you can say whatever you want."

I nodded mutely, the knots in my stomach increasing exponentially.

Shawn swallowed hard. "There's still a lot about me you don't know. And I know there's a lot about you I don't know. But -- for the past few weeks, I've been finding myself thinking more and more often about how I'd love to have the rest of our lifetime to find these things out."

The word _lifetime_ -- singular, not plural -- registered in my mind at the same moment that Shawn's knee bent and he dropped down in front of me, looking up with the most loving, scared, _sincere_ expression I had ever seen on his face.

"Juliet O'Hara, I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another human being. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I was wondering if -- maybe -- you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me?"

As cliché as it seemed, I wanted to pull one of my hands out of Shawn's and press it over my mouth. I had promised myself a long time ago that, if and when _the one_ proposed to me, I would not be cliché. So I shook of my desire to put my hand over my mouth and instead spoke the first words that popped into my mind. "Are you _proposing _to me, Shawn Spencer?"

Shawn's smile faltered a little, and worry crept into his hazel eyes. "I -- I wouldn't think this position and those words would mean anything _else_," he replied. And, obviously thinking of our past, he said, "And _this_ time, I'm really serious with my proposal."

I had avoided one cliché movement, but I couldn't avoid another. I dropped to my knees in front of him and half-tackled him, my arms going around his neck into a strangling hug. "Yes!" I shouted, not caring if I deafened him or any other beachgoers -- or even Santa Barbara itself heard me, for that matter. "_Yes!_" I repeated, just in case someone had missed my first positive response.

We kissed, and when we finally separated I realized that I had missed him sliding the ring onto my finger. As I admired the modest-sized diamond (Shawn _knew_ I hated flashy, and I appreciated him so much for that) flanked by two delicate opals, I realized that I had thought I'd known Shawn Spencer. But there was so much more to him than I'd thought, and I looked forward to spending the rest of our lives finding out everything about him.

Shawn's hands gently cupped my face and turned it up to his. Meeting my eyes with his own shining ones, the smile I loved teasing his lips, he whispered, "I can see our future. And Jules, it's going to be beautiful."

I had never believed him more than I did at that moment.

_~The End~_

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_**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!**_


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